The Worthington advance. [volume] (Worthington, Minn.) 1874-1908, 1887-02-17

EN ROUTE TO C.iLIF'ORNIA-INDIA "
7ERRITOHI and TEXAS

EN- ROUTE TO ClLIFORNIA-INDLA
TERRITOHY AND TEXAS
Los ANGELES, CAL, Feb. 6, 1887.
EDITOR ADvANCE:-You asked me
to write you from California, giving
my impressions OF tie state. But first
u few words as 10 the country Ell route.
left Kansas City at s ,. m., Thurs
day, Feb 26, and soon retired to my
birth III the sleeping Car, and when l
got up the next morning We were
speeding over the seemingly uninhab-
tied prairies aud mountains OF Indian
Territory. The past season has been
an exceedingly dry one all over the
western and central slope, and Indian
Territory is not All exception, and yet
l was surprised at the amount of ver-
dure yet visible. This territory is an
exceedingly rich and we'll watered one
in ordinary times, and capable Of sup
porting d large population. 1t is, how
ever, entirely Shut up from settlement
to married men. as the only way to be-
come Il property holder here and OBJ
tain title to land, is to marry squaw.
Tell ''Harve" here is I. bonanza for
him. BY marrying squaw he can
have as much land us he can fence, and
there are some not very bad looking
squaWs on the reservation. l could
not help but think, upon traversing
this reservation, certainly millions Of
acres of the very best lands, how much
better III the eyes of the U. 5. Gov. an
Indian is than white man. The III
di4DS should have an assignment OF Il
liberal tract, say 16O to $40 acres for
every head of u family or young Indian
of n years of age, and they he required
to cultivate it and live on it, and the
remainder of the territory placed un.
der the land laws of the u. 5. and Op-
ened to settlement.
After traversing Indian Territory
We next come to Texas. Eastern Tex
as, and in fact the entire state, is now
suffering from an extreme drOuth, the
inhabitants starving and seeking relief
from the north. l cannot better de-
scribe my Impressions Of Texas than
by agreeing with Gen. Sheridan. who
said that if he owned both HI and
Texas he would sell Texas and live i'll
HI. Western Texas has one very
nice town, Ell Paso. 1t is only 5 years
old, has large b'iCk business blocks,
splendid residences, with grounds laid
out and embellished with all the wealth
of verdure and flowers of this semi
tropical land. 1t contains popula-
tion of 5 or 6 thousand eastern and
New England people.
just across the river Rio Grande
from FL PasO is the old Mexican town
of Ell PasO del Norte. An information
al street Car line connects the U. S.
and Mexico at this point, and the al
most dry bed of the river is the bound.
ary between the two Republics. Ell
o1 10 tn
years old, and at this point is an old
cathedral $50 years old. Its walls are
built Of Adobe, as are all the houses
both business and residences III the
town. The cathedral is in good staff
Of preservation, and has chime OF
very fine toned old bells. It was open
to visitors and was much surprised
at the insOlence Of the American vi3i
tors. who would enter its portals with
hats on and inspect the image OF
Christ hanging upon the cross, Christ
crowned with thorns, and Christ ir
the sepniclIer, all life size. They
would raise the robes and make jOculal
remarks. whilst the Mexican greasel
would come in and remove his hat anC
shoes and kpeel upon his knees in wor-
ship. The contrast was not to tht
advantage Of the younger Republic
The Mexican town is wretched lrreg-
ularly laid-out place. the houses al
one story, dark and ill-ventilated. anG
built Of adobe. This is the place wher'
Cutting was arrested and Imprisoned
ard the prison is pointed out where HI
was confined. The custom officers ar
stationed upon each side of the lin
and visitors with unusually large bun
dies are examined before being allowed
to cross the bridge. Our excursio,
stopped here IL hours and gave Us am
pie time to view the places. More TO
next week g issue.
r. D. BARBER.